Mandated to rule in the reference within 90 days of its filing, the Commission is pressed for time.
By Naveed Naqvi
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Monday declined a three-week adjournment requested by former Prime Minister Imran Khan in a reference over non-disclosure of gifts he took from Tosha Khana.
A 5-member bench of the ECP headed by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja is hearing the reference.
This was the second consecutive hearing of the reference from which Imran Khan’s lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar, was absent. His assistant lawyer Gohar Khan appeared before the ECP, seeking a three-week adjournment.
The reference was filed with the ECP on August 4, 2022 by Barrister Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha, a Member of the National Assembly for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) party.
It says that Khan, the chairman of his own Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, did not declare the gifts received from Tosha Khana as assets in returns filed with the ECP, seeking his disqualification under Sections 2 and 3 of Article 63, read with Article 62(1)(f), of the Constitution of Pakistan.
Gauhar Khan argued that Khan’s defense team needed more time to gather the evidentiary documentation to back their response. Barrister Khan further argued that he would also submit the statements of Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha as to whether he has revealed the watch or not.
Under the law, the ECP is obliged to rule on the reference within 90 days from its filing. The defense attorney seemed to believe that there would be plenty of time for ECP to decide the matter even after allowing a three-week adjournment.
The ECP, however, did not agree with Barrister Khan’s contentions. The Chief Election Commissioner remarked that the former prime minister should have no problem gathering the documents of the assets he has already declared in the Election Commission.
The Chief Election Commissioner said that he could not allow a three-week adjournment, ordering defense to return in one week. The next hearing will in the reference will take place on August 29.
According to the reference, Imran Khan has been found on the wrong side of the law on three counts. One, he failed to disclose in his statement of assets and liabilities filed with the ECP Tosha Khana gifts retained by him worth over PKR 140 million.
Secondly, while the rules allow him to retain the gifts for a fraction of their market value, he retained them free of charge or paid prices far lower than allowable. Finally, the former prime minster deposited the moneys concerned after selling out the gifts on the open market.
An unfavorable outcome of the reference could lead to Khan’s disqualification from public office for life. His detractors say this is an open and shut case because the former prime minister has been caught lying in his returns.
The strategy of his defense, which seems to have resorted to delaying tactics for now, is not clear at this point.
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